Sunday, November 22, 2009

How To Apply For an EIN

This is the second time I have done this, well, second time I have had an EIN. I'm pretty sure the lawyer did it the first time around. If I remember correctly, that cost me a whopping $500, 5 years ago. Of course that included incorporation as well.

I remember how daunting it was back then, starting your own business. I felt like I had to hire a lawyer to do it. The truth is, it's very easy to do. Especially if you consider the sheer volume of documentation that exists on the Oracle database...this is a piece of cake.

It took 10 minutes to complete, but most of that time was spent doing screen captures. Twenty steps in all.

Landing page from the link above:

Begin Application:

Choose the type of business:

"Sub" Corporations:

Confirm your selection:

Why do you need an EIN?

Principal Officer?

Individual details:

Location of corporation:

Verify physical location:

"Accept Database Version" is funny. Do most people understand what that would mean? I guessed that's the USPS version of my address...but I tend to work with these types of scenarios.

Corporation details:

More about the corporation:

What does your corporation do?

I selected other because there was no IT type category on there.

What kind of Other?

What kind of Consulting?

How do you want this delivered?

Summary:

EIN assigned!

Additional information:

Thank you!

Pretty easy all in all. I bet is was a bit harder 5 years ago (i.e. not automated).

Amusingly, this form is only available at certain times of the day. I tried this morning and was told the online assistant didn't work until 7 PM on Sundays. WTF?